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The song debuted in 1996 on DJ Clue's Holiday Holdupmixtape. This version of the song only featured Puff Daddy and the rap act The LOX (excluding Styles P who still appears in the video). The song was later added to Puffy's debut album, No Way Out, in a remix, "It's All About the Benjamins (Remix)", which added two new verses by Lil' Kim and Notorious B.I.G. Lil' Kim also provided the song with a chorus which the original version lacked. This version of the song also omitted the word "Hebrews" out of Jadakiss' verse; however, the word was left in on the first pressing. Subsequent pressings removed the word. Additionally, when it was released on the Bad Boy's Greatest Hits Vol. I album, it retained the word. This single made it to #1 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart and its video won a Viewer's Choice award at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards show. Due to the rarity of the obscure mixtape version, the remix featured on No Way Out is often considered the song's definitive version to avoid confusion.

The song samples two pieces of music. The first sample heard up to the end of Lil' Kim's verse is taken from the song "I Did It for Love" performed by the Love Unlimited written by Linda Laurie and Terry Etlinger. The verse performed by Notorious B.I.G. contains a sample from The Jackson 5 song "It's Great to Be Here." This latter sample is exclusive to the No Way Out remix. After the final verse, the song reverts to the first sample and ends shortly after.

In 2008, it was ranked number 32 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.

Puffy also released a rock version of the song, "It's All About the Benjamins (Rock Remix)". This collaboration, also known as "Shot-Caller Rock Remix" and "Rock Remix I", featured Tommy Stinson, Fuzzbubble, Rob Zombie and Dave Grohl on drums. This remix added guitar riffs and live drums, as well as a more "in your face" approach to the song's chorus. This version had its own music video, directed by Spike Jonze, which was nominated for Best Video of the Year on MTV Video Music Awards in 1998 which was won by Madonna with "Ray of Light".

In 1999, Puffy performed this remix with a live band at Giants Stadium for the NetAid benefit concert. This performance featured Slash on guitar as well as Lil' Cease and Lil' Kim on vocals.

There is also a slightly different alternative to this remix called, "It's All About the Benjamins (Rock Remix II)." This lesser known version adds Size 14 to the song's already long collaboration line-up.

Both rock remixes of the song were released as edited versions; the explicit versions were only released on promo CDs.